The Assassin and the Soldier
by TVDstoryfan99
Summary: Katherine Matthews is one of HYDRA's best agents and assassins. Her mission was to take down the Winter Soldier if his mission became compromised. What she didn't expect was for her mission to be compromised. Now Katherine is on the run from a deadly agency, with the man she was supposed to kill. Can she get him to trust her so they both can live to see tomorrow? *Idon'town CA:TWS*


**The Assassin and the Soldier: Prologue **

* * *

Being woken up at HYDRA headquarters was not an unusual thing. Most times you would find yourself being woken up by guards pulling you out of bed, making it a morning training exercise. Not being woken up like this was the unusual thing.

Katherine Matthews opened her eyes to a quiet peaceful room. The room was really nothing, just a place with one bed, a dresser, closet, and a connected bathroom. She sat straight up in bed, immediately drawing her gun. Strucker had to be planning something. Why wouldn't he? Katherine had learned to be paranoid in her time here at HYDRA, and now was a good a time as any to be paranoid.

She slowly got out of bed, making her way towards the door. She would move the gun around every so often, aiming it at different places in the room, making sure no one was hiding in a corner. She reached the door, and threw it open, pointing it at the person who stood there.

"Being a little paranoid this morning, aren't we Agent Viper?" A doctor with a white lab coat on asked her.

"Not used to waking up alone." She said, tucking the gun into her sleep shorts. "Why are you here?"

"Strucker would like to see you." Of course he did.

"Tell him to give a girl a moment. I'll be right there."

Katherine closed the door and went over to her dresser and pulled out her black catsuit and put on her belt. HYDRA's red symbol shown bright on the buckle. She sighed as she loaded it up with her weapons, and combed her hair back into a slick ponytail. She looked at herself in her small mirror, her dark brown eyes staring right back at her.

Katherine exited her room and went into HYDRA's command center. She walked past the twins, as they continued sitting in those glass boxes and past the glowing staff. She stopped in her tracks, feeling eyes on her. She turned and saw the girl staring at her.

Katherine quickly turned around and headed for Strucker's office. She knocked on the door once, before entering. "Ah….Viper." Strucker said in a heavy German accent. "Sit." Katherine did as she was told, almost robotically. "Our HYDRA command center in D.C. is in need of your help."

"My help?"

"Yes." Strucker reached into his desk and pulled out a file, tossing it at Katherine. She caught it, and saw a red classified stamp on it. "Have you heard of the Winter Soldier?"

Katherine gave him a puzzled look. "I thought he was a myth."

"Oh, he is very real. He is in D.C. with our operatives who are inside S.H.I.E.L.D. It seems that in a recent fight, he has been compromised."

"How so?"

"Let's just say his mission is getting to him." Strucker paused, and then gave Katherine a smile. "You are one of our top assassins. I need you to go to D.C. and if the Winter Solider becomes compromised again, I need you to take care of him."

"You mean kill him." She said in a straight forward tone.

"Exactly. We are sending you out today. Everything you need to know about him is in the file. Now go pack. Your flight leaves in an hour." Katherine nodded, getting up. "Oh, and Viper." Katherine turned back to him. "Don't fail me."

* * *

Katherine arrived in D.C. early the next morning. HYDRA had set her up in a hotel just a mile away from S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters. She had studied the Winter Soldier's file on the plane. Apparently his name was James Buchanan Barnes, and had been working alongside a now S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in the 1940s. He was presumed dead, but kept on ice and brainwashed until now.

Katherine threw the file on her hotel bed and looked out the window. The Triskelion jutted out of the Potomac River, taller then most buildings in D.C. She moved away from the blinds and pulled out her suitcase. She put on her catsuit underneath regular clothes and put her .45 caliber in an over the shoulder bag. When she had arrived, she had gone to the HYDRA headquarters in Washington and they told her of the situation.

"_The Winter Soldier seems to be regaining his memories." A doctor told her as the walked down a narrow hallway. "His fight with Captain Rogers seems to have triggered it."_

"_So what are you going to do about it?" She asked. _

"_Remove his memories like we always do." He stopped at a steel door, and motioned to the inside. She looked in and saw a man thrashing in a surgical chair. She couldn't hear him, but he was screaming. "We have a very important mission tomorrow, and that is why you are here Agent Viper. We need you to follow the Winter Soldier and if he compromises the mission, we need him to be removed." _

_Katherine looked at the man in the chair again. He had stopped thrashing. "I completely understand." _

Katherine looked at her watch and as if on cue, the Helicarriers were beginning to take off. At least he had done that part of the mission. She made her way across the river, to a stretch of island and positioned herself there. She disassembled the motorcycle she was riding a pulled out a long range gun, before putting it back together. HYDRA had creative ways of hiding their weapons. She set up her weapons and waited.

After a few minutes, guns on one of the Helicarriers started going off, shooting at something flying through the air. At least she knew that wasn't the Soldier. She watched as one by one, the carriers went down and crashed into the river. HYDRA was losing. A helicopter circled the wreckage and as the last carrier came crashing down, a body fell out. He was followed by another.

Katherine squinted at the second person who dove into the river, and before he went under, she saw the glint of something silver. She remembered it from the room that morning. She grabbed her weapons as the Solider swam towards the shore, hiding in the woods. She was going to surprise him. He was compromised and needed to be put down.

Katherine watched from her place in the bush, as the Soldier dragged Captain Rogers onto the beach. Captain Rogers was unconscious, but still alive. The Soldier let out a grunt and ran his hands through his shoulder length hair. Katherine had yet to see his face.

He walked past her, making his way away from Captain Roger's body, mumbling to himself. Once he was past Katherine, she stood up and kept her gun pointed forward. She rounded the corner, expecting to see him. But he wasn't there. "Damn it." She mumbled, lowering her gun and running her free hand through her long brown hair. That's when she heard a click.

"Freeze." Someone said. Katherine slowly lifted her arms in the air, surrendering. She slowly turned and came face to face with him.

The Winter Soldier.


End file.
